pw_rpc/pwpb/docs.rst

.. _module-pw_rpc_pw_protobuf:

-----------
pw_protobuf
-----------
.. caution::

   If you're starting a new project, Pigweed recommends Nanopb over
   ``pw_protobuf``. See :ref:`module-pw_rpc-guides-headers`.

``pw_rpc`` can generate services which encode/decode RPC requests and responses
as ``pw_protobuf`` message structs.

Usage
=====
Define a ``pw_proto_library`` containing the .proto file defining your service
(and optionally other related protos), then depend on the ``pwpb_rpc``
version of that library in the code implementing the service.

.. code-block::

   # chat/BUILD.gn

   import("$dir_pw_build/target_types.gni")
   import("$dir_pw_protobuf_compiler/proto.gni")

   pw_proto_library("chat_protos") {
     sources = [ "chat_protos/chat_service.proto" ]
   }

   # Library that implements the Chat service.
   pw_source_set("chat_service") {
     sources = [
       "chat_service.cc",
       "chat_service.h",
     ]
     public_deps = [ ":chat_protos.pwpb_rpc" ]
   }

A C++ header file is generated for each input .proto file, with the ``.proto``
extension replaced by ``.rpc.pwpb.h``. For example, given the input file
``chat_protos/chat_service.proto``, the generated header file will be placed
at the include path ``"chat_protos/chat_service.rpc.pwpb.h"``.

Generated code API
==================
All examples in this document use the following RPC service definition.

.. code-block:: protobuf

   // chat/chat_protos/chat_service.proto

   syntax = "proto3";

   service Chat {
     // Returns information about a chatroom.
     rpc GetRoomInformation(RoomInfoRequest) returns (RoomInfoResponse) {}

     // Lists all of the users in a chatroom. The response is streamed as there
     // may be a large amount of users.
     rpc ListUsersInRoom(ListUsersRequest) returns (stream ListUsersResponse) {}

     // Uploads a file, in chunks, to a chatroom.
     rpc UploadFile(stream UploadFileRequest) returns (UploadFileResponse) {}

     // Sends messages to a chatroom while receiving messages from other users.
     rpc Chat(stream ChatMessage) returns (stream ChatMessage) {}
   }

Server-side
-----------
A C++ class is generated for each service in the .proto file. The class is
located within a special ``pw_rpc::pwpb`` sub-namespace of the file's package.

The generated class is a base class which must be derived to implement the
service's methods. The base class is templated on the derived class.

.. code-block:: c++

   #include "chat_protos/chat_service.rpc.pwpb.h"

   class ChatService final : public pw_rpc::pwpb::Chat::Service<ChatService> {
    public:
     // Implementations of the service's RPC methods; see below.
   };

Unary RPC
^^^^^^^^^
A unary RPC is implemented as a function which takes in the RPC's request struct
and populates a response struct to send back, with a status indicating whether
the request succeeded.

.. code-block:: c++

   pw::Status GetRoomInformation(const RoomInfoRequest::Message& request,
                                 RoomInfoResponse::Message& response);

Server streaming RPC
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A server streaming RPC receives the client's request message alongside a
``ServerWriter``, used to stream back responses.

.. code-block:: c++

   void ListUsersInRoom(const ListUsersRequest::Message& request,
                        pw::rpc::ServerWriter<ListUsersResponse::Message>& writer);

The ``ServerWriter`` object is movable, and remains active until it is manually
closed or goes out of scope. The writer has a simple API to return responses:

.. cpp:function:: Status PwpbServerWriter::Write(const T::Message& response)

  Writes a single response message to the stream. The returned status indicates
  whether the write was successful.

.. cpp:function:: void PwpbServerWriter::Finish(Status status = OkStatus())

  Closes the stream and sends back the RPC's overall status to the client.

.. cpp:function:: Status PwpbServerWriter::TryFinish(Status status = OkStatus())

  Closes the stream and sends back the RPC's overall status to the client only
  if the final packet is successfully sent.

Once a ``ServerWriter`` has been closed, all future ``Write`` calls will fail.

.. attention::

  Make sure to use ``std::move`` when passing the ``ServerWriter`` around to
  avoid accidentally closing it and ending the RPC.

Client streaming RPC
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. attention:: Supported, but the documentation is still under construction.

Bidirectional streaming RPC
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. attention:: Supported, but the documentation is still under construction.


.. _module-pw_rpc_pw_protobuf-client:

Client-side
-----------
A corresponding client class is generated for every service defined in the proto
file. To allow multiple types of clients to exist, it is placed under the
``pw_rpc::pwpb`` namespace. The ``Client`` class is nested under
``pw_rpc::pwpb::ServiceName``. For example, the ``Chat`` service would create
``pw_rpc::pwpb::Chat::Client``.

Service clients are instantiated with a reference to the RPC client through
which they will send requests, and the channel ID they will use.

.. code-block:: c++

   // Nested under pw_rpc::pwpb::ServiceName.
   class Client {
    public:
     Client(::pw::rpc::Client& client, uint32_t channel_id);

     pw::rpc::PwpbUnaryReceiver<RoomInfoResponse::Message> GetRoomInformation(
         const RoomInfoRequest::Message& request,
         ::pw::Function<void(Status, const RoomInfoResponse::Message&)> on_response,
         ::pw::Function<void(Status)> on_rpc_error = nullptr);

     // ...and more (see below).
   };

RPCs can also be invoked individually as free functions:

.. code-block:: c++

   pw::rpc::PwpbUnaryReceiver<RoomInfoResponse::Message> call = pw_rpc::pwpb::Chat::GetRoomInformation(
       client, channel_id, request, on_response, on_rpc_error);

The client class has member functions for each method defined within the
service's protobuf descriptor. The arguments to these methods vary depending on
the type of RPC. Each method returns a client call object which stores the
context of the ongoing RPC call. For more information on call objects, refer to
the :ref:`core RPC docs <module-pw_rpc-making-calls>`.

If dynamic allocation is enabled (:c:macro:`PW_RPC_DYNAMIC_ALLOCATION` is 1), a
``DynamicClient`` is generated, which dynamically allocates the call object with
:c:macro:`PW_RPC_MAKE_UNIQUE_PTR`. For example:

.. code-block:: c++

   my_namespace::pw_rpc::pwpb::ServiceName::DynamicClient dynamic_client(
       client, channel_id);
   auto call = dynamic_client.TestUnaryRpc(request, response_callback);

   if (call->active()) {  // Access the call as a std::unique_ptr
     // ...

.. admonition:: Callback invocation

  RPC callbacks are invoked synchronously from ``Client::ProcessPacket``.

Method APIs
^^^^^^^^^^^
The arguments provided when invoking a method depend on its type.

Unary RPC
~~~~~~~~~
A unary RPC call takes the request struct and a callback to invoke when a
response is received. The callback receives the RPC's status and response
struct.

An optional second callback can be provided to handle internal errors.

.. code-block:: c++

   pw::rpc::PwpbUnaryReceiver<RoomInfoResponse::Message> GetRoomInformation(
       const RoomInfoRequest::Message& request,
       ::pw::Function<void(const RoomInfoResponse::Message&, Status)> on_response,
       ::pw::Function<void(Status)> on_rpc_error = nullptr);

Server streaming RPC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A server streaming RPC call takes the initial request struct and two callbacks.
The first is invoked on every stream response received, and the second is
invoked once the stream is complete with its overall status.

An optional third callback can be provided to handle internal errors.

.. code-block:: c++

   pw::rpc::PwpbClientReader<ListUsersResponse::Message> ListUsersInRoom(
       const ListUsersRequest::Message& request,
       ::pw::Function<void(const ListUsersResponse::Message&)> on_response,
       ::pw::Function<void(Status)> on_stream_end,
       ::pw::Function<void(Status)> on_rpc_error = nullptr);

Client streaming RPC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.. attention:: Supported, but the documentation is still under construction.

Bidirectional streaming RPC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.. attention:: Supported, but the documentation is still under construction.

Example usage
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The following example demonstrates how to call an RPC method using a pw_protobuf
service client and receive the response.

.. code-block:: c++

   #include "chat_protos/chat_service.rpc.pwpb.h"

   namespace {

     using ChatClient = pw_rpc::pwpb::Chat::Client;

     MyChannelOutput output;
     pw::rpc::Channel channels[] = {pw::rpc::Channel::Create<1>(&output)};
     pw::rpc::Client client(channels);

     // Callback function for GetRoomInformation.
     void LogRoomInformation(const RoomInfoResponse::Message& response,
                             Status status);

   }  // namespace

   void InvokeSomeRpcs() {
     // Instantiate a service client to call Chat service methods on channel 1.
     ChatClient chat_client(client, 1);

     // The RPC will remain active as long as `call` is alive.
     auto call = chat_client.GetRoomInformation(
         {.room = "pigweed"}, LogRoomInformation);
     if (!call.active()) {
       // The invocation may fail. This could occur due to an invalid channel ID,
       // for example. The failure status is forwarded to the to call's
       // on_rpc_error callback.
       return;
     }

     // For simplicity, block until the call completes. An actual implementation
     // would likely std::move the call somewhere to keep it active while doing
     // other work.
     while (call.active()) {
       Wait();
     }

     // Do other stuff now that we have the room information.
   }